2. Cook Yourself Thin, Quick and Easy. Excellent book, a must for those of us trying to shed a couple of pounds. The meals are scrumptious, so simple to cook and utilise ingredients that you’ll generally have in your store cupboards.

3. A skillet! I got one the other day and goodness me! No oil needed and quite simply THE most perfect fried egg I’ve ever eaten!

 Ingredients:

 For the lamb:

• Four good quality lamb chops
• One large onion, roughly chopped
• Two-four cloves garlic (depending on how much you like garlic!) peeled and sliced in half
• Two sprigs of rosemary/four tsp dried
• Baby veg of your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 600ml lamb stock

For the gratin:

• Four good sized potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 150ml double cream
• Four tsp dried thyme
• Cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)

For the jus:

• Four tbsp redcurrant jelly
• One tbsp flour
• ¼ bottle of red wine
• One tsp dried thyme

 Method:

 Pre-heat your oven to 160°c.

1. Take a large casserole pot or roasting tray and brush on some butter. Lay the lamb chops in the dish, if possible so they’re not touching.
2. Add your chopped onion on and around the lamb and place half-one clove of garlic along with half a sprig of rosemary on each chop.
3. Add your baby vegetables.
4. Add your lamb stock, put the lid on your pot (if using one) and put in the oven to cook for between 1 ½ and 2 hours.
5. Meanwhile, pour your cream into a small pan and heat gently. Add your thyme and stir constantly to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat.
6. Arrange your sliced potatoes in a smaller ovenproof dish in layers – a layer of potato followed by a layer of cream and so on until your final layer of potato.
7. Gently heat your cheese until it’s soft and easily pours. Spoon the soft cheese onto the top layer of your gratin.
8. Put the lid on your dish and cook for 1 hour.
9. Once your lamb is cooked, use a slotted spoon, tongs or a turner to take out the chops and vegetables (including the roasted garlic).
10. Carefully pour or spoon the juices from the pot into a pan and heat gently.
11. Sieve the flour in and stir until all lumps are out.
12. Add the wine, thyme and jelly. Stir the jelly with a fork until it’s completely melted. Taste and, if necessary add salt and pepper.
13. Serve. Enjoy!

Butter or margarine – 2 tablespoons
Garlic – 1 clove grated or ½ teaspoon of dried
Leek – two large
Potatoes – two large
900ml chicken stock
Salt – no more than ¼ teaspoon
Pepper –  ¼ teaspoon

 
Method

1. Clean and chop the leeks.
2. Melt the butter in a pan and add the chopped leeks and garlic. Fry them over a low to medium heat until the leeks are soft. This will take about ten minutes.
3. Peel the potatoes and chop them into cubes.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan with the exception of the cream. Bring the soup to the boil and then let it simmer (just barely boiling) for around 20 minutes.
5. You can either purée the soup with a hand blender or, if you want chunky bits, use a potato masher.
6. Add the cream, heat gently and serve.

If you plan on freezing the soup, do not add cream until it has defrosted and is ready to be served.

• 2 lbs/900g of pumpkin (peeled, seeds removed and chopped)
• I large onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 large potato (peeled and chopped)
• 1 large carrot (peeled and chopped)
• 700 ml of vegetable stock or
• 25g of butter
• Half pint of cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper (optional – gives a nice Autumnal warmth)

Method: 

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan or stew pot and add the veg.
2. Cook gently for 5 mins, stirring now and then.
3. Pour in the stock and stir.
4. Simmer gently until the vegetables are cooked (approx 20 min) and purée with a hand blender.
5. Season to taste.
6. Add the cream and reheat.

 Tricks and tips:

If you plan to freeze this soup do not add the cream until you defrost and serve

If it’s not pumpkin season, you can use a butternut squash instead for a very similar flavour

If you’re feeling adveturous, serve the soup in the hollowed out pumpkin shell. This will mean it’s a huge pain to prepare the pumpkin but it looks fantastic, especially in time for Hallowe’en!

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion , chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 potato , chopped
• 450g carrots , peeled and chopped
• 1.2l vegetable or chicken stock
• Handful of coriander (about ½ a supermarket packet)

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, fry for 5 mins until softened.
2. Stir in the ground coriander and potato, cook for 1 min.
3. Add the carrots and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce. Cover and cook for 20 mins until the carrots are tender.
4. Either blitz in a food processor or use a hand blender until completely smooth.
5. Reheat to serve or ladle into containers and refrigerate.

400g Scallops, coral removed
1 Egg plus 1 Egg-white;
500ml single cream.
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 deg.
2. Butter 4 small ramekins.
3. Purée the scallop, pepper and salt, add the egg  and white then add the cream.
4. Divide between the ramekins.
5. The mousseline must be cooked in a bain marie to stop it burning. You can buy a bain marie for around £30 or make one at home:

A bain marie is essentially a pot within a pot. The outer pot is filled with boiling water with a smaller pot resting within not touching the bottom of the larger pot (use a cookie cutter, forks arranged around the bottom of the large pan, anything to keep the smaller pot from touching the bottom) and place your ingredients in the empty, smaller pan.

6. Place your bain marie in the oven, covering with a layer of tin foil.
7. You can eat your mousseline hot or cold. If cold, leave in the ramekins and refrigerate. Otherwise, carefully remove from the ramekins and serve. They taste beautiful with a light, white fish sauce, a garlic and parsley sauce, honey or, if you really want to treat yourself, caviar.

Uncooked king prawns – 10
1 onion, finely chopped
4 springs parsley, finely chopped
Butter – 6 tbsp
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Fry onions until tender (roughly 5 minutes)
2. Fry prawns until mainly pink (roughly 10 minutes)
3. Whilst prawns are cooking, mix up butter, garlic and parsley with a fork
4. Add the mixture to the pan and stir thoroughly until butter has melted
5. Serve in an earthenware pot.